Comment on Why do we say, "when I look in the mirror" instead of "when I look in a mirror?"
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Because no matter in what mirror you look, they‘re all the same. That‘s why we say the clock or the calendar. It‘s universal.
ALERT@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
how about “going to the doctor”? :D
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 6 months ago
We say “the doctor” when talking about the concept of a doctor. We tend say “my doctor” and not “the doctor” when talking about what our respective doctor told us. Kind of like how we refer to the clock as “my clock” when we notice a difference to the universally accepted concept.
ALERT@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
so “a” is universal for clock, but “the” is universal for doctor :D